Sox Plus.

Keith Foulke Came To The Sox In The `White Flag' Deal In 1997 And Has Established Himself As One Of Baseball's Top Relief Pitchers. But He's Not After Bob Howry's Job

He Wants To Be A Starter.

Closing The Door On Speculation

April 25, 2000|By Paul Sullivan, Tribune Staff Writer.

Keith Foulke wears the cut under his left eye like a badge of honor.

Good guys wear black eyes.

It took five stitches to close the cut incurred during Saturday's brawl at Comiskey Park when Foulke was punched from behind while fighting off a handful of Detroit Tigers in the outfield.

When Foulke closed out Sunday's victory with an inning of perfect relief, he shouted a few uncomplimentary words for Tigers catcher Robert Fick, the last batter of the game and one of the main offenders during Saturday's melee.

"He wasn't one of my favorites after watching the film [of the fight] on Saturday," Foulke said. "My emotions were pretty high."

Foulke is slowly but surely gaining some name recognition in Chicago, and not just for his role as victim of a vicious attack. He's the primary set-up man for closer Bob Howry, but his numbers over the last two years put him atop the statistical rankings for American League relievers and he has a 1.46 earned-run average this season as opposed to Howry's 5.19.

Some observers believe Foulke should be the Sox's closer, but manager Jerry Manuel says he's in no hurry to change the roles of his relievers. The way the Sox have been winning games, there's no real reason to do so now. The Sox have won by an average margin of 4.9 runs per game in their first 12 victories and 10 of those 12 have come by four or more runs.

Who needs a closer when your lineup is full of stompers?

Foulke and Howry have heard this song before and there's no doubt they will hear it again if Foulke continues to sizzle while Howry struggles.

"He's the closer, I'm the set-up guy and that's about it," Foulke said. "It's not up to us. It's up to Jerry [Manuel] and management to decide that. If they want to make a change, I'm sure they will. I enjoy what I do. As long as I get to pitch, I have fun. Since it's not up to me, I don't worry about it."

The White Sox organization inadvertently has added to the closer controversy, posting a question on the team's official Web site asking fans to choose the team's closer. As of late Monday afternoon, Howry was the selection on 45 percent of nearly 1,500 Internet ballots cast, while Foulke was named on 42 percent and Bill Simas on 10 percent. Befitting Chicago legend, many people undoubtedly voted more than once.

Foulke doesn't even know if he wants to stay in the bullpen, much less become the Sox closer. He started out as a starter with the San Francisco Giants, but he has been put in the pen since being traded to the Sox in '97.

"I can't see me doing this forever," he said. "My ultimate goal one day is to get a chance to start again. That's what I'd like to do."

The Sox never have mentioned Foulke as a potential starter, but Foulke insisted it's his long-range goal.

"They know how I feel," he said. "Obviously it's not going to happen this year. But you never know. If I have to go to another team, or maybe one of the starters here doesn't work out, I'd like a shot at starting again."

Foulke was part of the nine-player "White Flag" trade on July 31, 1997, though he and Howry are the only two of the six acquired players who are currently on the Sox roster. Shortstop Mike Caruso was demoted to Class AAA Charlotte, Lorenzo Barcelo is pitching at Class AA Charlotte and Brian Manning and Ken Vining are out of the organization.

The trade was one of the most controversial and analyzed moves in Sox annals, but nearly three years later, Foulke said virtually no one realizes he was even a part of it.

"Half the people I run across, if they start talking about that trade, they don't have any idea of who they got in the trade," he said. "They'll start talking about the guys the Sox gave up, but you ask them if they have any idea of who the Sox got and most have no idea. It's one of those deals where every year that goes by, you hear less and less about it."

"To me the [controversy] affected me not at all. It had nothing to do with me. It was a shock when it happened. But once I got to spring training the next year, it was history."

Foulke's bread-and-butter pitch is his changeup, which makes some hitters look like they are playing Twister, trying not to look fooled when their swing is way out in front of the pitch. After striking out on a Foulke changeup during the ninth inning of the Sox home opener, Angels first baseman Darin Erstad walked away shaking his head.

"I saw it, but I never got there," Erstad said. "His changeup is right there with Trevor Hoffman's. I think he's one of the most underrated relievers in the game."

Foulke first began throwing his formidable changeup in '94 when he learned it from pitching coach Keith Comstock while coming up in the Giants' minor-league system. He has refined it since and has even taught Howry how to throw one.

"It may be my signature pitch, but it's not my best pitch," Foulke said. "My best pitch is my fastball. What happens a lot now is guys are looking for the change and that's when I'm able to get a fastball by them or get 'em to chase something, chase my pitch. If I just keep 'em off balanced, good things happen to me. Last year was the year it finally came out. I had more confidence in it, started throwing it more and that's when people started taking notice of it."

More and more people are beginning to take notice of Foulke, the current poster boy for the underdog Sox. He no doubt will be public enemy No. 1 in Detroit this weekend when the Sox hit Comerica Park, and he doesn't mind that role at all.

"We'll find out Friday," he said. "It's one of those things where I still get fired up just thinking about [the fight]. Those guys came at me and they started swinging for my head. I hope they don't forget about it. I'm not."